At Safaricom Decode 4.0, Safaricom PLC made a subtle shift in how it describes its flagship product, M-PESA. M-PESA is now being positioned as a core layer of Kenya’s digital financial infrastructure.
Speaking during the fintech session, Esther Masese Waititu, Chief Financial Services Officer at Safaricom, said the platform is evolving beyond money transfers into a broader economic engine.
“We are not just building a movement of money. We are creating a digital lifestyle and ecosystem,” she said.
Since its launch, M-PESA has played a key role in expanding financial access across Kenya. Safaricom says financial inclusion has grown from 23% at inception to 84% today. This is mostly attributed to the increased adoption of mobile money.
M-PESA is increasingly being embedded in everyday life from paying bills and sending money to accessing credit, managing savings and supporting small businesses. This ubiquity is what allows Safaricom to frame M-PESA not just as a product, but as infrastructure.
Last year, Safaricom upgraded the technology powering M-PESA to support this expanded role. The platform can now handle up to 6,000 transactions per second, up from around 100 transactions per second in its earlier years.
At the same time, Safaricom has deepened its developer ecosystem through its Daraja platform, which acts as a bridge between external developers and M-PESA services.
The platform currently supports over 66,000 integrations, more than 80 mini apps within the M-PESA app and approximately 6.5 million monthly active users. Businesses are now building on top of it are nolonger just using M-PESA as they
Safaricom is also expanding M-PESA into a full suite of financial services beyond payments. Some of these services include savings and wealth tools such as Ziidi and the latest one, Ziidi Trader, opensaccess to stocks listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange for retail investing. M-PESA also has credit solutions like Fuliza, business tools such as Pochi for micro-entrepreneurs and insurance products covering health, income protection and devices
These services show that M-PESA is moving users beyond basic access to financial services, toward long-term financial health.
“While digital inclusion is the foundation, financial health is our destination,” Waititu noted.
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Also Read: Safaricom to Mask M-Pesa Names and Numbers in New Privacy Changes
